Liu Ji was at a loss.

Just a while ago, his potato younglings returned.

But… they had changed.

When they came scurrying back in the dirt with only the top of their heads exposed, Liu Ji heaved a sigh of relief.

Although he knew they were fine, he could only truly rest easy upon personally witnessing them return.

But, the moment they popped out from the dirt, Liu Ji went numb.

Previously with tiny limbs, these little potatolings had actually gotten robust bodies overnight.

Though still quite short, standing at no more than two and a half heads tall, their lower bodies were exceptionally sturdy with bulging chest muscles that made Osar's eyes light up with admiration.

Right now, he was gathered together with the potatolings, striking various poses and showing off their muscles. In his words, this was called "muscle exchange."

Nox was also dumbfounded.

Initially, he thought that these potatolings were some sort of backup plan for the tree left behind by the Sanctum of Arcane Arts.

Their appearance was too coincidental, and the fact that they had latched onto and drained the core made it seem like they were a last resort. It felt like they were breaking in and absconding with the accumulated energy of three hundred years.

But it turned out that these little things were brought in from outside by Yaine and her companions. Even more surprising was that they were brought by this new guy, who happened to be Yaine's apprentice.

Among the remaining people in the arcane circle, Yaine was considered the only one with the potential to ascend to a Grand Arcanist. In the past, countless would queue up hoping to be her apprentice, yet Yaine had never found anyone suitable.

And now, she was willing to teach this stranger from scratch…

Nox guessed that it might have something to do with Yaine's teachers passing. In any case, this fellow was really lucky. And he had talent, too. In the short time Nox was separated from Yaine, this fellow had already learned to communicate in incantation.

Hmm… Wait a minute.

Why is he using incantation to communicate?

Firstly, it surely wasn't to act pretentious; only those fools at the sanctum did such a thing. Yaine's teacher had always been at odds with the sanctum, so she would surely never adopt such a bad habit, nor would she teach it to her student.

So, does it mean he can't communicate without incantation? Perhaps his race's language is too obscure?

Speaking of which, what sort of race is this fellow anyway…

Nox glanced at the muscled potatolings and suddenly came to a realization.

There's no doubt. This guy is a grown-up potato!

On this side of the desert, there was actually a race that started as potato-like children! Nox had never heard of such a thing before.

The chattering of these little potatoes was also incomprehensible to him. Perhaps this was the language of the new guy.

Potato race language!

————

————

Seeing Nox gawking at Liu Ji as if the latter was a new species, Yaine felt a headache coming on.

This old summoner was one of the remaining few in the world who knew about the Hero Summoning Magic. Even though Yaine knew his character well, she couldn't help but worry that Nox might have special expectations for Liu Ji upon learning he was a summoned hero.

After all, not everyone was concerned with the feelings of summoned heroes like her teacher did.

People always tended to think from their own perspective first and foremost.

Mulling for a bit, Yaine finally decided to deal with it for now. Thus, she walked over to Liu Ji and pulled him over to Nox.

"Liu Ji, this is Mr. Nox," she introduced in incantation. "Don't be fooled by his youthful appearance; he's lived for countless years. If you want, you can call him Old Master Nox."

Yaine then introduced Liu Ji. "Mr. Nox, this is Liu Ji, my student. His native language is quite obscure, so we use incantation to communicate with him for now."

"Oh! I guessed as much. Nice to meet you, young fella." Nox extended his hand to Liu Ji.

"Ah! Mr. Nox, nice to meet you." Liu Ji quickly extended his hand to shake.

Nox smiled and was about to ask Liu Ji more about the potatoes, but Yaine dragged Liu Ji away, heading straight to the female knight.

At that moment, she was assisting Calidora in treating Mervant's injuries. Although they had already provided emergency treatment earlier, full recovery would take considerable effort for such severe wounds.

Nox felt something was amiss yet also reasonable. Scratching his head, he looked at the headless corpse of the black-armored commander and the broken sword lying beside it.

His eyes immediately lit up as he picked up the sword and stored it into his magical space before he began stripping the general's armor.

This was no ordinary armor; it was a commander's armor, worth a lot of money. It was unfortunate that the helmet was shattered, or it could have fetched a high price at an auction.

Meanwhile, Yaine introduced Liu Ji to the female knight.

Her name was Shelo White, a stray child adopted by the Church and later became the captain of the White Knights' vanguard, earning the surname "White." After the Church's last holy city was destroyed, she escaped and formed a sizable refugee team along the way.

Most of them present here had joined midway and thus called Shelo "Captain."

Unfortunately, the group later encountered some difficulties. Some died, others left, and a bunch were too afraid to venture into the desert. In the end, only a few of them remained.

With fewer people, there were fewer management issues, and Shelo relaxed her role as captain, treating everyone as equals. She didn't particularly enjoy being the captain, as it exhausted her. Taking on the responsibility was more out of duty.

When given the chance to put down that burden, she didn't hesitate. However, everyone was used to calling her Captain, so they still did so from time to time.

"So, you can call her Captain," Yaine said to Liu Ji. "That way, she'll take care of you, and that feeling is just great."

"Hey! Is it really okay to say that in front of me?" Shelo's lips twitched.

"I think… Captain Shelo wouldn't mind?" Yaine spread her hands helplessly.

"That's not necessarily true." Shelo then looked at Liu Ji. "Liu Ji, is that the correct pronunciation?"

"Yes." Liu Ji nodded. "Hello, Captain."

"You learn quickly." Shelo grimaced. "But Yaine, you missed something…"

"Hmm?" Yaine raised an eyebrow, a sudden sense of foreboding rising in her heart.

"Hehe, Liu Ji, listen carefully." Shelo chuckled. "Yaine seems to really like it when you call her Teacher."

"Ah, really?" Liu Ji blinked several times and turned to look at Yaine. She was flustered and red in the face.

It was the first time he had seen Yaine look so vulnerable. Almost instinctively, he murmured, "Uh… Teacher?"

"Eek! No! I…" Yaine waved her hands, looking uncharacteristically panicked. Looking from Liu Ji to Shelo, she frowned, turned, and huffed, "I'm going up! Don't stay here too long; it's not safe here. We must leave as soon as possible!"

With that, she quickly scurried toward the spiral stairs leading up.

Her reaction could only be described as a hasty retreat. Though Liu Ji was supposed to call her Teacher, being directly called out on her desire to be addressed as such was…

Yaine slapped her forehead three times and quickened her pace.

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